16mm Filmography
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About Fear

One of a series of short cartoons in the "A Few Quick Facts" series, "About Fear" was released in 1945 and directed by Osmond Evans. Featuring the character Private SNAFU (here in knight's armor) voiced by Mel Blanc, the toon is an examination of the emotion of fear and its influence on human nature. Shown to G.I.s as part of film screenings during WWII, this cartoon is a lighthearted way to assure soldiers that fear and its associated symptoms are entirely normal. It was made by the UPA studio, which was founded in the wake of the Disney animators' strike of 1941, which resulted in the exodus of a number of long-time Walt Disney Animation Studios staff members. Although UPA got its start with industrial and World War II training films, it eventually grew and produced theatrical shorts for Columbia Pictures such as the Mr. Magoo series.
Complete catalog record
One of a series of short cartoons in the "A Few Quick Facts" series, "About Fear" was released in 1945 and directed by Osmond Evans. Featuring the character Private SNAFU (here in knight's armor) voiced by Mel Blanc, the toon is an examination of the emotion of fear and its influence on human nature. Shown to G.I.s as part of film screenings during WWII, this cartoon is a lighthearted way to assure soldiers that fear and its associated symptoms are entirely normal. It was made by the UPA studio, which was founded in the wake of the Disney animators' strike of 1941, which resulted in the exodus of a number of long-time Walt Disney Animation Studios staff members. Although UPA got its start with industrial and World War II training films, it eventually grew and produced theatrical shorts for Columbia Pictures such as the Mr. Magoo series.
Transcription

[Music] if we are to believe the story books those were the good old days when men really were brave then the world was inhabited by a fearless breed of men men afraid of absolutely nothing absolutely nothing [Music] raggedly nothing [Music] yes ever since the world began men have been scared the brave lights of old had those same cold beads of perspiration their hair stood on end their fans got clammy their hearts pound their stomachs flop and bounce frightened and they got keyed up to being normal human beings scare a man and automatically his spear machinery starts rolling wakes him up all over and prepares him to recognize the danger nerves go into action and wake up a couple of glands the glands come through with a shot of adrenaline and all hell breaks loose but it all makes sense nerves elves get puffed up [Music] you see more clearly you hear more keenly muscles tense your body's ready to act and act fast but to active top speed calls for extra energy that's where the liver comes in this is the fuel tank the fuel is sugar and here's where it's stored getting scared gets it out out through the bloodstream to your muscles that need it to get it there quicker your heart pumps faster and you breathe harder bringing in more oxygen to change that sugar into strength and here we are scared yes but ready ready either to get away from the danger or stay and fight with extra strength that's the best thing about fear you can make it work for you instead of against you [Music]

Sources

  1. YouTube channel: PeriscopeFilm · video ↗ — year, description, catalog record, video
  2. 16mm Filmography editors — title, creator

Original permalink · Record added 2025-01-23 17:19:39